ArmInfo.An increase in domestic gas tariffs in Armenia will lead to a drop in consumption and, accordingly, Gazprom Armenia CJSC will not bring any financial dividends. A similar opinion was expressed by ArmInfo Vice-Chairman of the Armenian National Congress Aram Manukyan.
"Based on my own experience as a member of the parliamentary" gas commission, "I can say that a 10- 15% increase in tariffs is accompanied by a 5-6 percent drop in gas consumption. People, especially in their current state, will simply consume less gas. Those who it's accessible, they will refuse to use gas altogether, preferring to destroy and burn the forest. I think Gazprom Armenia should also understand this, "he said. Last week, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan sent a letter to Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller with a proposal we can begin negotiations to reduce gas prices due to the negative impact of coronavirus on the country's socio-economic development. At the same time, Yerevan offers Moscow the option of paying in national currency. Armenia purchases gas from Russia at $ 165 per 1000 cubic meters, while Armenian consumers pay companies " Gazprom Armenia "$ 290 per 1000 cubic meters.
The very next day, Gazprom Armenia CJSC published a release about plans to apply to the Public Services Regulatory Commission with a proposal starting July 1 to increase the tariff for subscribers who consume up to 600 cubic meters of gas per year who are entitled to a family or social allowance, from 100 to 135 , 9 thousand drams. It is proposed to lower the price for subscribers using up to 10 thousand cubic meters of gas annually from 139 to 135.9 thousand drams.
Manukyan stressed that he continues to assert the possibility of lowering domestic gas tariffs in Armenia to a quarter. According to him, at this stage, the government needs to think about preventing a possible increase in tariffs. And only then to return to the issue of lowering. First of all, through the refusal of "Gazprom Armenia" from excessive "charity", bonuses and bonuses, extremely high salaries of employees, minimization of losses and other squandering of resources.
Stressing that the company had not yet submitted the promised application to the PSRC, he stipulated its expiration of previous agreements with the Armenian government. Manukyan is convinced that PSRC should refuse this application due to her lack of convincing motivation. At the same time, even if the company's requirements are met, raising tariffs by 36% for socially vulnerable segments of the population will not practically lead to an increase in Gazprom Armenia's income, however, it will seriously affect their situation. According to his estimates, this population group, consuming annually up to 600 cubic meters of gas, as a whole, consumes only up to 2% of the total gas consumption in Armenia.
"Nevertheless, given the proposed increase in tariffs by 17% for business entities using more than 10,000 cubic meters, the rise in price will be a pretty difficult blow for our economy, which is already in a difficult time. It will hit gas stations, electricity producers, and the processing industry , production as a whole. Gas will become slightly cheaper only for about 800 thousand families consuming more than 600 cubic meters of gas. In this light, our government should consistently fight at least to maintain the current After all, Russia is a strategic partner of Armenia, a member of the EAEU, and this obliges Moscow to pursue a more friendly policy towards such countries. Accordingly, serious negotiations are necessary, accompanied by the PSRC's refusal to satisfy the request of Gazprom Armenia, "the politician summed up.